A New Summer
by Blood Brandy
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata go on a dangerous mission, and, for the girls, it could mean the end their lives as they know it. My First Fanfic,sorry if you don't like the summary. Sorta NaruHina NaruSaku NaruHinaSaku or NaruOc dependin on how you see it
1. Chapter 1: Before The Mission

Greetings, I'll keep this short and sweet, this is my first swing a writing a fan fiction, and it is based on the picture that can be seen at .com/art/Natsuko-Uzamaki-69805320

I hope you guys enjoy it, and if you don't, byte me.

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_**ABCD-**_ Scene change

_ABCD-_Flashback/Dream Start/End

**ABCD-** Bijuu/Inner-self talking

_ABCD-_Dream/Flashback body

_**Hinata's day**_

The sun rises to start an average summer day in Konohagakure, shining brightly into the Hyuga family compound. Most of the clan would normally be up and about with the rise of the sun, and the young heiress of the clan was no exception, but for one difference. Hinata was up because she hadn't been able to settle herself to sleep, as her thoughts kept coming back to a certain blonde shinobi she was assigned to work with starting that afternoon.

_One Day Earlier_

_Hinata and Naruto Stood in front of what seemed to be nothing more than an unreal sized pile of papers, scrolls, files, and folders. Naruto was the first to speak up, stepping closer to the pile._

_ "Hey, obaa-chan, are you alive under there!" he yelled, and was promptly sent flying across the Hokage's office, courtesy of a fist that seemed to just pop out of the middle of the pile._

_ "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT, GAKI?" Tsunade bellowed, blowing away the papers and revealing that she did have a desk underneath._

_Naruto groaned as he crawled out of the fresh, Naruto-shaped hole in the wall, rubbing his head, where the fist had contacted._

_ "N-Naruto-kun, are y-you okay?" Hinata worriedly asked. Anyone who knew Naruto knew of his close relationship with the Godaime, and the fights between them that pitted her monstrous strength and short temper against his incredible physical durability and healing abilities, but Hinata had never gotten used to seeing her beloved blonde being flung through walls and furniture like a ragdoll._

_ "Yeah, I'm fine Hinata," he said walking past her, "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO, OBAA-CHAN, KILL ME?!"_

_ "Please, it'll take more than that to damage your thick skull, gaki," Tsunade scoffed, "now do you and Hinata want your mission or not?"_

_ "H-hai Hokage-sama"_

_ "Fine, obaa-chan, what is it this time?"_

_Tsunade, who chose to ignore that last comment, began to explain, "there have been numerous reports of mass murders in a large village near the border in recent weeks. There seems to be some sort of ritualistic style to the deaths, I don't want to go too far into the details, but each time the bodies are found, it is in groups of seven or eight, usually found in abandoned buildings or out of reach places. There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern to the victims, they have been men and women of various types, big, small, old," the end of the sentence seemed to stick in her throat," several children have been found in the body count as well. As far as autopsy can tell, the deaths are purposefully drawn out to be as painful as possible. However, we have found no evidence of shinobi involvement in these incidents. The rituals don't seem to have any value when compared to forbidden summoning jutsus we are aware of, so we believe this to be the possible actions of a group of mentally unstable civilians, or maybe some new religious cult. Your mission is to find and stop the culprits as soon as possible. I have assigned Hinata Hyuga to assist in tracking the targets, and Naruto Uzumaki, whose combat capabilities help aid in the capture."_

_Hinata was happy as ever at the prospect of going on a mission with Naruto, no matter how dangerous, until Tsunade finished her statement, "And the Final member of the team shall be Sakura Haruno, whose medic-jutsu may help any victims should you arrive late. Now this is ranked as a B-rank mission, since we don't currently suspect shinobi involvement, but should you find evidence to the contrary, you are to immediately send for reinforcements, understood?"_

_ "Don't worry obaa-chan; we'll kick their asses, right Hinata?"_

_ "R-r-right Naruto-kun," Hinata stammered out, a blush starting across her face but going unnoticed by the young blonde._

_However, it wasn't missed by the elder woman, "All right, you depart at tomorrow morning; the trip should only be a few hours on foot. Naruto, I want you to go to the hospital and brief her on the mission. Remember, be ready for anything." As the teens made their way to the door, the elder blonde spoke again, "Hinata, I need to speak to you privately before you go."_

_Hinata slowly turned back as Naruto walked out the door, she walked back to stand in front of Tsunade, the tone of the hokage scared her a little, "Hinata, I need to speak with you about Naruto."_

_ "W-w-what do y-you mean, Hokage-sama?" Hinata whispered, the red on her face deepening._

_ "Hinata, don't for a minute believe all us blondes are as dense as your dear little crush," Tsunade allowed herself a moment to enjoy seeing Hinata's blush darken before becoming serious again, "Hinata, as your Hokage, I need you to focus on this mission, it could turn vary bad, very fast. In fact, I would have sent Shino or Kiba as the tracker, but the both of them are far too busy themselves. Just remember, one slipup could cost a life." Hinata started to look away, "But, as I said, that's my opinion as Hokage. As a woman, I think you need to tell him soon. You may have noticed him early on, but I think I've seen a few other girls around the village _admiring_ him as well." The young woman's heart sank at the Hokage's parting words, "If you don't act soon, you may be too late."_

_Present_

Those last words haunted Hinata throughout the night. Every time she started to doze off, she would see an image of her beloved with a different girl, but never her. By five a.m. she had figured she wouldn't be getting any sleep, she got dressed, packed her tools, and left her bedroom, and a tear-stained pillow, behind. When the time came, she sat for breakfast with her family, too lost in thought to pay much attention to what it was she was eating. 'what am I going to do? I need to tell him, but what if he doesn't like me? How am I going to get his attention away from Sakura?'

"Hinata!"

Hinata jumped at the sound of her father's voice, "Forgive, tou-san," she said, "m-my mind w-was on the m-m-mission I will be starting this m-morning."

"I see, I was trying to remind you of the clan meeting this evening, but since you have been assigned a mission, how long shall it take?"

"I-I am not s-sure, tou-san. My t-team and I are to find a group of people, t-there is no s-s-set time, I m-may be gone for a f-few weeks."

"Very well," Hiashi rose from his seat, "Do the best you can, Hinata."

Hinata nodded as her father left, in the past couple of years she had started to become more accustomed to her father's awkward parenting as he tried to show more emotion, to those who didn't know him, they would swear he was as cold as ever, but Hinata knew he was trying, not that it helped her current problems. She finished her meal and made her way towards the village gates, continuing her inner struggle the entire way, completely unaware that someone else in the village was having a similar problem.

_**Sakura's Day**_

Across town in her apartment, Sakura was having similar thoughts to the young heiress. Sakura had moved into her own place in an attempt to be more independent, it wasn't much, but she could easily pay off the rent with her hospital wages. This morning, however, instead of preparing for her hospital shift, she was just sitting at her table, pushing her cereal around in its bowl. Sakura had gotten some sleep, but not much, her thoughts kept wandering between the past and a certain blue-eyed shinobi. It seemed to happen more and more since his return from training, she would dream of the past, see her younger-self fawning over Sasuke as Naruto tried to get her attention, only to get knocked to the ground. After this, she would wake in tears at what she had done. When this started shortly after Naruto had left, the dreams and subsequent tears had only confused her; she had originally thought it was that she was nostalgia for their old ways or that she missed the young Uchiha she had once cared for so much, but then things started to change a bit. Those same dreams of her old team left a feeling of guilt in her stomach, this she chalked up to her inability to stop her raven-haired crush. Then, one night, almost a year after Naruto had left, a new dream had come to her, that seemed to be part memory and part nightmare, which had shown her what she had missed.

_Dreamscape_

_Five figures stood at the village gates, prepared to set out on their mission, when they were stopped by a sudden cry, "Wait!" There stood Sakura._

_ "Sakura-chan!"_

_ Shikamaru wasn't surprised, "I heard the story from the Hokage. Sorry, but you can't come. It seems we have to force him to understand, your job is done Sakura."_

_Naruto seemed surprised, "W-what… Sakura-chan, you already met with Sasuke!?"_

_Tears welled up until she couldn't stop them anymore, "Naruto, I beg you, please…please bring Sasuke back. I couldn't do it… I couldn't stop him. The only person who can probably save Sasuke-kun now is you, Naruto, only you can…"_

_There was silence for a few seconds, "Sakura-chan, you really like Sasuke, huh?" Sakura looked up at Naruto, that old smile on his face, but his eyes had a different look to them than a few moments ago, instead of the determination she had always seen, there was pain, the same pain she was feeling, "I know how much pain you're in because of Sasuke. I can understand."_

_Like a flood, memories poured into the young girl's mind, everything Naruto had done to help her, to encourage her, to save her, and all the things she had done to him, the things she had said. Even after that, he had wanted to help her, to make her feel better, she started to cry more, ashamed of what she had done to the blonde, "Naruto…thank you," she sobbed, gripping herself to stop shaking._

_ "Don't worry! I'll bring him back!" Sakura thought she could see tears on the edges of his eyes, "That's the promise of a lifetime!"_

_Those words shook her very being, the others on the team spoke, but she didn't hear them, 'Naruto is still willing to go to such lengths for me, after all I've done'. She stayed near the gates, waiting for the team's return, she saw Choji and Neji's return on stretchers, she saw Shikamaru, Kiba, and Lee return with the sand siblings, Kiba having to ride injured on one of Kankuro's puppets. But after hours of waiting, there was no sign of the orange clad ninja. Eventually it began to rain, but there was still no sign. Shortly after the rain had stopped, she thought she had caught sight of it, a red and orange figure in the distance, jumping from tree, Sakura's face grew hopeful as the figure got closer, a few villagers and other shinobi, gathered near her, but Sakura's heart sank when the figure stopped at the gate._

_Naruto set the last Uchiha down on the ground and looked at Sakura a look of horror growing on her face, he put on a faint grin, "Don't worry, Sakura-chan, he's just knocked out, he'll be fine," he said as his breaths shortened. Sakura still had the look on her face; she could see Sasuke would be fine, what had her scared was her blonde teammate, his jumpsuit was torn and tattered, and what was left of it was stained a deep red, he had severe looking burns and slashes all over his body, and the worst was a large, gaping hole in his stomach, the edges of which seemed seared, but he had carried Sasuke here and was still worried about her. She rushed to his side as he fell to the ground, his breathing was severely labored._

_ "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!" the young kunoichi called out to the others who had been near, only to see them gathered around Sasuke, carrying him towards the hospital, completely ignoring her and Naruto. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE, NARUTO NEEDS HELP!!" but people still took no notice, as she was about to try carrying him herself, she heard a faint voice._

_ "S-Sakura-chan," she looked down at Naruto's face, pale from blood loss, to see the same grin he always wore._

_ "Naruto, don't talk, just hang on, I'll get you help," she said, picking him up and getting him on her back as best she could, his body felt cold against her back, and she could feel blood dripping down her back. She made her way to the hospital as fast as her legs would allow, Naruto's shallow breaths in her ear, but she couldn't seem to get any closer, but she didn't want to give up._

_ "Sakura-chan, I kept my promise." Naruto's voice was weak._

_The girl felt new tears reach her eyes, "Yes, you did, Naruto, now I need you to hang in there, Okay?"_

_ "Sakura-chan, you feel so warm," a slight blush grew under her tears, "Sakura-chan… I hope you'll be happy…" Sakura stopped as she felt the boy body slump and his breathing stop, she placed him on the ground and tried CPR, her mouth filled with the coppery taste of his blood. She went on trying, as the rain began to fall again, as if the heavens themselves wept at the loss. She looked down to his deep blue eyes, still clear as crystal, a faint smile still on his face , she had lost him, the one who cared about her no matter what, whose dying words had wished for her happiness. She screamed at the top of her lungs for her los, before she slumped across his body, and placing one final kiss on his cold lips, her tears never stopping._

_End Dream_

That dream had haunted Sakura for weeks, after the second time it came to her, she had started to feel herself change, her heart began to ache for the boy every time anything reminded her of the blonde; whenever she passed Ichiraku ramen, when she visited the academy or training ground seven. She had even considered sneaking up some night and carving whiskers on the face of the fourth, to whom Naruto bore an uncanny resemblance. But she knew he wouldn't approve, he would claim that he would get his face carved there himself, someday, and that was something she fully believed. Sakura hoped to someday to tell him of her feelings, but she was afraid his feelings had changed while he was away, or maybe he had found someone else. She had been ecstatic when he had returned, even if she didn't fully show it when she got upset over his claim of a new perverted jutsu. When she had learned of his "fuzzy little tenant" as he could put it, she had developed a new understanding of his life, why everyone had treated him the way they did, even if she hated them for it and herself for the part she had played. But she also gained a new admiration for Naruto, growing up like he did, in that kind of environment, and not wanting to kill them all.

When Naruto had told her about the mission, she had mixed feelings. She was excited to see Naruto in action, but she was worried about the third member of the group. She had known of Hinata's feelings since the academy, early on Sakura couldn't understand the girls feelings, but as she thought about it more and more, she saw what Hinata had seen for years, a kind-hearted, sweet, if somewhat dense young man. Part of Sakura had cheered on Hinata's feelings, since the pale eyed girl had treated him so well when even other children where so cruel, but another part of her wanted Naruto all to herself. These two parts of her had battled in her head all night, and when she did sleep, she imagined fights between herself and the Hyuga heiress over the blonde. Sometimes she lost, and the Hyuga girl walked away, arm-in-arm with her prize, and other times she won and Naruto would carry her home and tend to her injuries. The thought of his arms around her brought warmth in her chest and face.

pSakura blinked out of her reverie long enough to notice it was almost time to go, she quickly washed her dishes, packed her things and set out to meet her love, and her rival.


	2. Chapter 2: The Mission Begins

_**A.N.**_**- I didn't mention this before, but this takes place after Hidan and Kakuzu's defeat. There are a couple reasons for this that will come up later.**

**Anotamous****- No it isn't Hidans work (I know technically his head is still alive, but if your dismembered and buried that far underground, I consider you dead) BUT you are sorta close.**

**KiraUzamaki****- Thanks for the encouragement**

_**************************************_

_**ABCD-**_ Scene change

_ABCD-_Flashback/Dream Start/End

**ABCD-** Bijuu/Inner-self talking

_ABCD-_Dream/Flashback body

_**Chapter 2-The Mission Begins**_

_**Gates of Konohagakure**_

Naruto had been waiting at the gates for about 20 minutes for the girls, completely on accident though, the batteries in his clock had died and he woke up thinking he was late. He had hurriedly packed a fair share of instant ramen into his pack with some spare clothes and bolted, only to realize his mistake when he saw a clock in a store window. He was hoping that Hinata and Sakura would be early to so they could get going, Naruto had a new jutsu and he was hoping to try it out on this mission.

He was also glad to have the girls on this mission, Sakura seemed to be a lot kinder to him since his return, and had only hit him once or twice since, and even he could understand the reasons when it happened. The two had also gotten closer as teammates since then, and got together when they had some free time, and talked about what had happened to each of them during his trip, and sometimes their conversations would wonder back to the old days of team seven, at those rare times Naruto would notice something he couldn't recognize creep into the eyes of his pink-haired friend, he assumed that bringing up their missing friend had hurt her, and any conversation would die out for a while. Naruto guessed that Sakura still held her same old feelings for the absent Uchiha, and while he couldn't understand why she might still feel for Sasuke, he didn't want to press the matter, for fear of alienating her into her old self, leaving him that much lonelier when she would leave him.

While he was happy about being with Sakura, he was also glad to spend some time with Hinata as well. Even if she seemed somewhat weird to him, she was always nice to him, when she was conscious, that is. In the years he was gone, she seemed to partially get over what ever had been making her faint, but she still passed out every now and then. Even with those faults, Naruto knew she was a good person, and a strong fighter. He had sometimes entertained the thought that she could even beat Sakura, even with her monstrous strength. This wasn't, however, something he would voice aloud, for fear of getting hit so hard he would be shot six feet underground without using the Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu. Even with her own power and social standing, though, Hinata was one of the most kind, caring, and courteous people he had ever met, and she wasn't bad looking, either. Naruto had always wondered why she didn't have a boyfriend, or girlfriend, but that thought often left him with a severe nosebleed.

He finally caught sight of the two kunoichi coming up two different streets; both seemed to have their heads in the clouds. "Hey, Hinata, Sakura good morning."

Hinata started fiddling with her fingers, "G-good morning, N-N-Naruto-kun, I h-hope you haven't b-been waiting t-t-too long." Hinata felt a little proud that she only turned a very light pink.

"I've only been here about twenty minutes."

"I wouldn't have expected you to be so early, Naruto," Sakura said with a slight smile.

Naruto grinned as he scratched the back of his head, "Well, it was kinda by accident, my clock was off, and I thought I was late, and I didn't want you to start comparing me to Kakashi-sensei."

"The day you reach his level of lateness, I'll start drinking and gambling like Tsunade-shishou." Sakura said with a grin of her own.

"I'm n-not worried; N-N-Naruto-kun is too c-considerate to keep people w-waiting on perpose." Hinata said, blushing as she looked to the ground.

"Hehe, thanks Hinata. Now can we get going?"

And with that they set out at a brisk pace for the village. That was the only bit of conversation they had for almost the entire first hour, the young women too lost in thought about the blonde who, as dense as ever, was a little afraid to try and start a conversation with the girls who seemed so lost in thought, thinking he might upset them.

From the moment they left, Hinata kept going over what she should say to Naruto, and those thoughts were off put by something she had just started to observe, she could see Sakura glancing at Naruto constantly, it was similar to the look she used to give Sasuke, but there was something different about it, there was something deeper, but familiar about the medic-nin's eyes. Then, to her horror, Hinata realized what it was; they were the same eyes she had always had for the blonde. 'I thought Sakura had feelings for Sasuke. She used to regard Naruto as an annoyance and almost worshipped the Uchiha, but if she has started to feel for Naruto, that means I have to tell Naruto soon, or I may lose him like Hokage-sama said' Hinata thought franticly.

Sakura was having a mental dilemma of her own, although she had been all but gone for a long time that loud voice in the back of her head had started up again.

'**Come on, you gotta tell him soon, or someone may take our Naruto-kun**,' the Inner-Sakura screamed.

'But, what if he doesn't like me like that anymore,' Sakura thought, 'He had a lot of time to move on, and he hasn't asked me on a date once since he got back, he's probably over me.'

'**OR he might think we're still in love with Sasuke-teme, he might just be considering our feelings, and he's actually trying not to hurt our feelings. Maybe his mind finally matured on his trip, Kami knows his body did, ****Shānnarō!**

That statement brought a blush across her face, Naruto had definitely grown up physically on his trip, and he had gotten injured on a regular basis while training, and to treat him she had on occasion, had to remove his shirt, the memory making her turn an even deeper, and while she was glad Naruto had taken point and couldn't see her face, she could see Hinata sneak a glance just before her own face seemed to fill with worry.

'What about Hinata, though,' she wondered when she got a guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach, 'she has loved Naruto since Kami knows when.'

'**SO!? He has had those feelings for us just as long, and she can barely talk to Naruto, I doubt she would ever be able to confess, if we wait to give her a chance, either we'll have to wait forever, or he'll fall for the pale-eyed bitch, either way, we lose!!'**

'But she has been waiting for so long, and she was good to him, even when I was, well… a bitch,' Sakura sighed inwardly at that last part, she had no doubt Naruto would be upset if he heard her speak of herself like that, but she couldn't think of any other way to describe her actions, and she knew she had no real excuse.

Inner-Sakura had no comeback for that, even she knew how mean they had been to Naruto when they were younger and had no excuse, and Hinata had always been nothing short of kind to him. **'Well, at least set some sort time limit, I know we don't want to wait forever.'**

'That means I should probably have a talk with Hinata, and soon, because we are getting close to the destination,' Sakura thought for a moment, and rushed up beside Naruto, "Hey, Naruto, I've got an idea."

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Naruto was a little confused.

"Since you are faster than me and Hinata, and we're close to the village, why don't you rush ahead and let them know we're almost there so they can prepare, and we can begin investigating right when we get there."

"Um, alright, but what about you and Hinata?"

"Naruto, we can take care of ourselves, and we won't be that far be far behind, besides," Sakura lowered her voice so only Naruto would hear, "I need to talk with Hinata."

"What about?"

A small blush swept across her face, "Uh…..ya know, girl stuff," she couldn't really say she wanted to talk about him, "Just go, Naruto, we'll catch up."

Naruto just shrugged and took off. Once he was out of sight, both kunoichi stopped, and were silent for a few minutes, before Hinata finally spoke, "S-so, when d-did your feelings for him change l-like this?" she seemed almost on the verge of tears.

"So you did know," Sakura said with a guilty look on her face.

"Hai, it's h-hard for me to miss that look, the look I a-always have for N-N-Naruto-kun," she started fiddling with her fingers again, "s-so when?" she asked again.

"I'm sorry, Hinata, actually, looking back, it was shortly after he left," Sakura couldn't bring herself to look the Hyuga in the eyes, "but I was in denial, I just couldn't think of myself falling for him, part of me, I guess the same part that wanted the Uchiha, wasn't able to see why I would want dim-witted, loud-mouthed, bull headed Naruto Uzumaki, of all people. But the longer he was gone, the more I started to miss him, the less I missed Sasuke, and the less I could deny what I was feeling."

"A-and now? Have you given up on Sasuke? Do you think you m-m-might do the same with N-Naruto-kun?" Sakura could hear the anger and sadness in Hinata's voice.

"No, this is different," she could feel tears in her eyes, "what I feel for Naruto is different. I do still wish Sasuke would come back, but I don't think I could even think of him more than a teammate anymore, not even as a real friend, I don't think I could trust him anymore, not after what he did, not after what he tried."

"What d-do you mean?"

"I learned when I was filing papers for Tsunade-shishou, and I came across the mission report for the Sasuke-retrieval mission, I read through it, and I got to Naruto's portion, and I couldn't believe it, Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto, and had used Chidori on him…it was a miracle Naruto survived." In truth, this had happened the week after she had first had her most horrific nightmare, and this information had shown her how horrifyingly close it had come to being true, she could still see him with that large gaping hole in his stomach as the life drained from his eyes. The image made her shudder.

"And yet, N-Naruto-kun still wants to bring him back?"

"Yes, I would guess partially because some part of him still sees Sasuke as a friend, but mostly, because Naruto promised me that he would, and you know doesn't go back on his word," she said sadly, "I don't even know if I can convince him to let it go, but I do know, if he had to, I would rather Naruto kill Sasuke, rather than die to bring him back."

"So is this what you w-wanted to talk to me about? To try and explain yourself and your feelings? To ask me to back down?" Hinata was getting upset, so much so she didn't even notice the loss of her stutter, afraid that if it came down to a choice between her and Sakura, Naruto would chose his old crush without a thought.

Sakura sighed, "No, I wanted to tell you, you should tell him of your own feelings soon. I decided a long while ago that it would be best to wait for you to do so." Hinata was confused, but Sakura continued, "You have loved him as long as I can remember, even if I couldn't, for the life of me, understand why you did. I do know now, I can see how great a person he is, despite all he's gone through, he deserves someone who has and will always be good to him, and you have been so since you've known him. I do love him, but after the way I acted towards him back then," she cast her gaze towards the ground, tears falling, "I'm not so sure I deserve him, and I know you do." Sakura turned and started walking again, "but I have to warn you, you should make your move soon, I'm not sure how much longer I can go without telling him."

Hinata stood there for a few minutes, 'did Sakura really mean that, is she really giving me a chance?' She set off to catch up with her teammates, more nervous and confused than ever.

**End note: I hope to be able to update every week or two. That is of course, barring any accidents involving swords, twelve-gauge shotguns, and mercenary gerbils.**


	3. Chapter 3:Investigations and Confessions

_**ABCD-**_ Scene change

_ABCD-_Flashback/Dream Start/End

**ABCD-** Bijuu/Inner-self talking

_ABCD-_Dream/Flashback body- Thoughts

_**Chapter 3- Investigations and Confessions**_

(**A.N.-**_I can't really think of OC names very well, so I'll just use names from other series, since these ones won't be here for more than a few chapters, at the most._)

When Hinata and Sakura finally made it to the village, they found Naruto standing on the road with two older men. One older man, maybe in his fifties, was about a head shorter than Naruto, and what hair he had left on his head, as well as his mustache, was grey. He was wearing a white lab coat that seemed rather old and worn. The other man seemed considerably younger, maybe late twenties, with black hair. He was wearing a dark blue hakama and gi, with a sword at his side. Both of them had serious looks on their faces, which was at stark contrast with Naruto's grin.

"About time you got here, I thought I'd have to come get you two," Naruto said, noticing the strange looks one the girls faces he stepped closer to them, "is everything alright?"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun, we're fine," Hinata said, trying not to stutter.

Naruto shrugged, "Okay," he turned to the men, " These are the other members of my team," he said, trying to sound official, he motioned to Hinata, "this is Hinata Hyuga, our tracker, and this," he motioned to Sakura, "is Sakura Haruno, our medic."

The younger of the men spoke first, "My name is Jin Takeda," he said with a bow, "and I am the head of the village guard, and this is Sōken Ishida, the head of the local hospital, we are here at the behest of our village head to assist you in your investigation however we can."

Sakura stepped forward, "I would like to examine the victims' bodies, if I may," she turned to her teammates, "I think the two of you should check out some of the crime scenes, and see if you can find anything, then we can meet at the lodgings to discuss what we might find, and what we know."

"Very well then, youngsters," Sōken said, "I'm sure Jin can show Uzumaki-san and Hyuga-san to the places where the bodies were found, so if you will follow me, Haruno-san, I will show you to the morgue." He began to walk away, and Sakura followed.

"Then if you would follow me, Uzumaki-san, Hyuga-san," Jin said as he turned down a separate street, "There have been three crime scenes, I shall show you to the most recent site, and then we shall work our way to the oldest."

The leaf shinobi followed him down the street for a while until they reached an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the town, it seemed old, with lots of cracked or broken windows, and a large amount of graffiti on it.

Jin stopped at a door covered in tape, which had a guard posted by it. After unlocking the door, he turned to the Naruto and Hinata, "I shall wait here for you."

Naruto and Hinata entered the building, and where greeted with the smell of blood and decomposition, it hit them so hard, Naruto almost lost his lunch, and Hinata almost passed out. After taking a minute to get used to the stench, or at least as much as they could, they started their search. As they searched they took note of everything they could, along the walls where a number of symbols and things in a language they couldn't recognize, but it all seemed to be written in dried blood. They checked every nook and cranny, with the help of Hinata's Byakugan, they searched for about an hour, before they finally found a small, crumpled piece of paper, on it was a simple circumscribed triangle.

"D-do you think it means anything, N-N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, handing the scrap to Naruto.

The blonde looked it over for a minute, a serious look on his face, "I don't know, Hinata, but I get the feeling I've seen this symbol somewhere before, I just can't place it. I don't see anything like it on the walls, so it could be nothing, just some product label from when this place was a warehouse, but we should probably bring it with us, just in case." He looked her in the eye and smiled, "Nice job, Hinata, you did great. Now let's finish up, I want to get out of this place, it reeks of death."

Hinata just nodded, also wanting to get out of the foul smell.

The two of them searched the other two sites, but the symbol they found was in none of the other buildings. Once they finished, they decided to head to their hotel.

_**Hospital Morgue**_

As her teammates where performing their search, Sakura followed Sōken through the hospital halls and down a flight of stairs, "I should let you know, Haruno-san, that many of the bodies have been released for burial, but I can give you the autopsy reports on them."

"Ano, Ishida-san, but isn't it normal to hold the bodies until the culprit is apprehended?"

"Yes, but, simply put, there have been too many for the morgue to hold, and most of the bodies that were released were children. Unfortunately, though, there is no shortage of corpses for your examination, if you will follow me." Sōken lead Sakura to a refrigerated drawer and opened it, revealing a the body of a young woman, whose body was covered in wounds, "This is one of the bodies from the first group, she was a nurse in this very hospital, and a very kind young woman," he turned to Sakura, "I hope you won't mind if I leave you to your examination, it brings pain to this old man's heart to see someone who was so full of promise cut down before their time."

"I understand, Ishida-san."

"Thank you, Haruno-san. If you need me, I shall be in my Office across the hall; I will prepare the autopsy reports for you." He said, turning to leave.

Sakura went to work, but it was difficult, even though she was a kunoichi herself, she wasn't used to this kind of seemingly mindless gore, but she managed to keep her stomach settled. She examined several bodies until she came to a drawer in the corner of the room.

Sōken was in his office, making sure he had all the reports prepared, when he heard a scream, and rushed to the other room, and found Sakura on the floor with a look of horror on her face, in the slab in front of her was another body, "Are you alright Haruno-san?" She looked at him and climbed to her feet.

In front of her was the body of a young man about her age, with blonde hair, and several lacerations up and down his body, along with one extremely large gash on his abdomen, the moment she had removed the cover, it was as if her worst nightmare had come true. However, now that she looked at him again, his face had no real resemblance to her favorite blonde. She shook her head a bit to shake off the thoughts before facing the doctor, "Yes, Ishida-san, I just… slipped when I pulled out the slab," she said, thinking up the best excuse she could, "I think it's about time for me to go meet up with my teammates and discuss our findings," she pushed the slab back in and closed the door, "could I please have the reports?"

"Of course, Haruno-san," although not completely convinced with her excuse, he could understand how this kind of thing could get to someone, especially one so young. It always surprised him when he saw such young shinobi, not even adults.

Once she collected the folders, she set out for the hotel they would be staying at, but as she walked, she kept seeing Naruto laying on that slab in her mind's eye, _Damn, now I know I won't get much sleep tonight._

_**The hotel**_

The trio met in outside of their hotel, and went to the suite that had been provided for them. The room was much nicer than what they were used to, it was like a rather nice apartment. It had two bedrooms attached to a living room/kitchen with a nice sized couch. The three of them sat around the table to discuss their findings.

Sakura spoke first, opening a sizeable folder, "So, let's begin with what we already know…"

"Sakura-chan, can we eat first, I'm starving."

"No Naruto, I don't think that's a good idea, so let's just start, and tell me if there's anything you need explained, okay. Now according to the information gathered by the locals, the victims all usually went missing about a week before their times of death. They were of varying ages and professions, and few had any relation. According to the autopsies, as well as my own examinations, the victims received various severe, but non-lethal injuries that were in varying stages of healing, meaning they were caused pare-mortem," she saw Naruto start to open his mouth, but raised her hand to silence him, "it means they were injured and tortured for a long time before death; broken bones, burns, cuts. One person had third degree burns and broken limbs that were inflicted days before his heart was cut out of his chest, and from the clotting around that wound, it was drawn out over almost an hour, and preformed with a very jagged weapon. What were you two able to find out?"

Naruto now had a very serious look, "The areas where the bodies were found didn't seem to have anything in common. They had a bunch of strange things written on the walls, things we couldn't understand…and it was written in blood. These guys didn't seem to leave anything behind, but Hinata managed to find this," he took out the paper they found, "it might be nothing, some old company logo maybe, but I know I've seen that symbol before somewhere."

"Do y-you know w-w-what it is, S-Sakura?"

"I don't know, it does seem vaguely familiar, but I don't know what it is." She thought for a minute, "It is late, but in the morning I can send it to the village via messenger hawk, and we should get a reply in a few hours. Is there anything else?"

"G-gomen, we couldn't f-find anything else." Hinata looked down.

"Hey, Hinata, it's alright, we did our best, and we'll still catch these bastards." Naruto said, giving her a grin.

"Naruto's right, Hinata, this might be nothing, but it could also be important to the investigation. I think we should eat and got to bed, and continue this in the morning."

After some quick room service (Naruto had the ramen, of course) the girls headed to the bedrooms, and Naruto got stuck sleeping on the couch. With the problems of the mission, and the fact that this was possibly one of the most uncomfortable couches there was, but Naruto couldn't sleep, so he did what he had been doing the past few months whenever he was bored. He closed his eyes and focused for a second.

_Hey Fox!_

_Flashback, a few months earlier_

_It was shortly after the failed first mission with Sai and Yamamoto, Naruto was laying in his apartment, trying to get to sleep, when he finally managed to drift off, he was shocked by a cold, wet feeling on his feet. Naruto really didn't want to open his eyes because either he would see that he wet the bed, which didn't seem likely, or he would see a long, sewer like tunnel. Naruto finally opened his eyes._

_"Damn, I almost wish I had wet the bed," he grumbled as he made his way to the one who was no doubt waiting for him. He finally came to the large room that contained the reason, for most of his troubles._

**"What is it you want now, gaki? Just because you can't sleep, doesn't mean you can keep me awake like this."**_ The great beast growled at him, staring at him with one large, half open eye._

_"What are you talking about, fox, didn't you bring me here?"_

**"It's your mind, gaki, I thought you came here yourself, or are you too dimwitted to realize that?**

_"I just wanted to get to sleep, not look at your ugly mug. How do I get out of here?"_

**"Once again, it's your mind, idiot, try wandering around a bit, just stop bothering me.**_ And the fox lowered its head._

_"Fine, jeez," Naruto started towards the hallway, but stopped short, "hey fox."_

**"What?"**

_"I wanted to know, the other day, when Sasuke was in here, what did you mean he would regret killing me?"_

_The fox sighed and opened an eye, _**"What do you mean?"**

_"You said 'Don't kill Naruto, you'll end up regretting it', what did you mean?"_

_The demon sighed again, _**"If you really must know,"**_ it turned its head away from its jailer, _**"I meant he would have felt bad about it later, and if he didn't, I might've made him feel bad about, in a more painful way."**

_"Well, well, if I didn't know better, I would think the great Kyuubi no Kitsune was getting soft." Naruto taunted with a grin._

**"Don't push it, kit, you've just grown on me, kind of like a bad fungus."**

_"So now you're comparing me to athlete's foot, nice," Naruto thought for a moment, "wait, what did you just call me?"_

**"I said kit, kit."**

_"Okay, but what is a 'kit', some fox insult?"_

**"No, baka-kit, a kit is a fox cub."**

_Naruto grinned again, "So what, are you thinking of me as your son, TOU-SAN?"_

**"If you were my cub, you would have been eaten shortly after birth. It simply means I respect you a little more, that, in my eyes, you've moved up from a puny, weak, stupid human, to a weak, stupid cub."**

_"Well, it's a start, and if I can get some respect from a gigantic demon fox, it shouldn't be too hard to get some from the village!"_

**"Don't get too full of yourself, kit, don't think this means I don't want to tear my way out of here, I just might be a little …reluctant, that's all, and perhaps I might be convinced to help you, sometimes."**_The fox closed its eye again and lay back down._

_"Cool," he started towards the door again, but stopped short again, "hey fox, one last thing."_

**"AUGH, what now!?"**

_Naruto turned his head towards his prisoner, he had a grin, his real grin, on his face, "Good night, aniki…" and he left the room._

_It grumbled a bit, but a small grin cracked on the edges of the great beasts' mouth, _**"Good Night, kit."**

_Back to the Present_

"_Hey, Fox! ANIKI!!"_

**"What is it, kit, I was almost out."**

_"This shouldn't be long, I just had a few quick questions…"_

The fox chuckled in his head, **"Well you see kit, when a fox and his mate love each other very much, and they're in season, they…"**

_"Aniki, this is serious, it's about the mission,"_ Naruto focused and brought images of the crime scenes to mind, _"Do these symbols remind you of anything?"_

The fox was quiet for a moment, **"They do seem familiar, I may have seen them some time a century or two ago, but I can't really say where, but I think you should be careful, even if they aren't ninja, these people could be dangerous."**

_"Hehe, is aniki worrying about his little kit?"_

**"I just don't want you to die and drag me to hell with you,"** the fox growled, **"and I don't want your little vixens to die, either, or your tears would probably flood this damned cage, and drowning in tears wouldn't really be a suitable death for me."**

Naruto, who had spoken with the fox a bit over the past few months and could usually understand his form of speech, was a bit surprised, _"What the heck do you mean 'My Little Vixens'?"_

**"You know what I mean, and I must say, kit, I approve of your choice in mates. That pale eyed girl would bear strong cubs, and would definitely be a good mother, even Pinky, even though she was always a bitch before, would be suitable mate."**

Naruto blushed at this, _"Ero-aniki, Sakura-chan still loves Sasuke-teme, if I ever tried asking her on a date, she'd probably pound me into the ground."_

**"And the pale eyed one?"**

Naruto sighed, _"Hinata's the freaking heiress to the biggest clan in the village, no matter how nice she is, she wouldn't want some no name orphan like me when she could get some rich, good-looking boyfriend."_

"N-N-Naruto-kun, are y-you a-awake?"

Naruto sat up to see Hinata standing just outside her door, wearing an elegant looking, lavender nightgown that stopped just above her knees.

**"Speak of the devil, and here she is, now make a move kit."**

As she walked to the couch, Hinata thought she heard her beloved mutter something that sounded like…ero-aniki? She shook her head, '_I have to tell him NOW, before I lose my nerve."_

"Is something wrong, Hinata?"

The Hyuga sat on the couch and locked eyes with her love, _'Those deep, blue lovely…NO HINATA, FOCUS!'_"N-Naruto-kun I n-need to talk with you about something very important."

"What is it, Hinata?"

"A-ano…I… I mean…I lo…I just…just," Hinata, starting to lose her nerve, did the first thing that came to mind.

She grabbed him by the neck.

She pulled him close.

And she kissed him, deeply, and passionately.

Naruto just sat there as the pale eyed pressed her lips against his. Even after she released him from the lip-lock, he just sat there, wide eyed and surprised, but it didn't stop her, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close before whispering in his ear, "Naruto-kun, I love you."

"What!?"

She sat in his lap, looking into his eyes, her face reddening, "I l-love you, Naruto-kun, w-with all my heart and s-soul, I h-have for as long as I've known y-you."

Naruto just stared for a moment, "But why? You're like a princess or something; you're strong, nice and smart. You could probably have any guy you want, why a nobody like me?"

Even though she was almost ready to pass out, Hinata was on a roll and couldn't stop herself, she'd even lost her stutter, "NO, you're not a nobody, you're kind and strong too, and you're handsome. You never give up on those you love, and would die to protect them, and you would never want to burden them, even if it meant you had to go through hell yourself, you're the noblest man I've ever known!" Naruto was now blushing more than Hinata was, but she kept going, "Naruto, I've seen the ways people looked at you your whole life, you were mistreated your whole life for no reason, but you kept going, you worked your hardest to gain their acceptance, their respect. You never lost your determination, and you have this power, you change the people around you. You changed me, encouraged me to fight, to better myself. You changed Neji-nii-san, and through him, you caused a changed in my father, which could change my entire family. You make things better and brighter just by being there, and I love that about you. I love everything about you."

Naruto just sat there for a moment, with a blank look on his face, but he finally spoke, "don't say that, Hinata, there are things you don't know about me, things that will make you hate me for." He could hear a weak, almost apologetic growl in the back of his head.

"Naruto-kun, nothing, NOTHING could ever make me hate you, someone could tell me you we're the lord of hell himself, and I wouldn't care. I love you."

Naruto was scared at how close she had actually gotten, "Hinata," she looked and saw tears in his eyes, "If I do tell you, you can't tell anyone, it is an S-class secret back home, and the only one of our group who knows it besides me is Sakura," Hinata nodded, a little peeved that Sakura knew something about him that she didn't, "okay, but once I start, just let me finish, then, when…if you hate me, just please don't let it affect the mission. It started on the day I was born, the day the Kyuubi attacked, you were told that Yondaime killed it, but that was a lie, it was too powerful to kill, too strong. He could only seal it away, inside a newborn whose cord had just been cut," he could see a confused look in her eyes, "a baby boy, with blonde hair, and blue eyes." Naruto closed his eyes, expecting her to run to her room, screaming, and lock the door. But he wasn't prepared for what she did do.

Hinata wrapped her arms around him and shoved her face in his chest, and started to cry. "N-N-Naruto-kun, I'm so so-sorry, I h-had no idea," she sobbed into him, "the looks, the insults, I thought, I mean…"

Naruto just wrapped his arms around her head and waited for her cries to stop, whispering, "Shh…it's okay, Hinata."

Hinata's crying eventually died down, "That's what I mean, N-Naruto-kun, you just l-laid yourself out there, a-and you are w-w-worrying about me," she moved to kiss him again, but she was stopped part-way.

"Wait, Hinata, this is starting to become a lot to process," Hinata started to tear up again, "not to say I don't like you, Hinata-chan," now she blushed and smiled at the addition of the suffix, "it's just, I've never had anyone say anything like that to me, especially such a pretty girl, I just don't know what to do now. I'm sorry."

Hinata shook her head, "It's o-okay, Naruto-kun, I understand, I just f-felt if I didn't tell you s-soon, my h-heart might explode, or I m-might l-l-lose y-you to someone else."

Naruto chuckled sadly, "I don't think you have to worry about that, I don't think there's any other girl who'd have me…"

"You're wrong, N-Naruto-kun, I know f-for a f-fact that that there a-are other girls who have b-been… admiring you. Even hokage-sama saw it happening, a-and she told m-me that s-someone might g-get to you first, a-and I d-don't think I could have handled that."

"It's alright, Hinata-chan, how about we talk about this once the mission is over, we talk about this," he looked away, scratching his face, "maybe over some ramen, or something else if you want."

Hinata smiled wider than she ever had before, "H-hai, I would love to, Naruto-kun. Now I th-think I should return to bed, we will be busy tomorrow." She went to her door and turned to Naruto, "S-s-sweet dreams, Naruto-kun."

"Good night, Hinata-chan." She left the room and closed the door behind her.

_"Man, I must have been really stupid to have missed that she liked me."_

**"No argument here, baka-kit, but now that you have a vixen, maybe soon you'll have kits of your own."** The fox added with a chuckle.

_"WHAT!? NO WAY, I'M TOO YOUNG TO HAVE 'KITS' ANIKI!!"_

**"Calm down, kit, I'm just playing with you. She's still a bit too young to safely bare offspring anyway, I think."**

_"Well, it's not like I have to worry about that yet, anyway, I mean," _Naruto's thoughts were interrupted a groan.

"Please…don't."

"That's coming from Sakura-chan's room," Naruto jumped up and bolted to her room, but when he got in, it was just Sakura, lightly thrashing in her bed.

"Please…don't die."

"She must be having a really bad dream," he rushed to her side and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently, "Sakura-chan, wake up, Sakura-chan."

Sakura's eyes shot open, after she took a few seconds, she settled on the young man holding her shoulder, she started to cry, and grabbed in a bone-crunching hug, "NARUTO-KUN!" she sobbed out.

Although he was caught a little off guard by the -kun, he tried to comfort his friend, "It's okay, Sakura-chan, it was just a bad dream."

"No, Naruto-kun, it was horrible. I thought this nightmare was gone, but today, after that body…" she broke down crying again.

"Sakura-chan, please calm down, what happened?"

Sakura took a few deep breaths, but didn't release her hold on the blonde, "I've had this… nightmare in the past, and earlier, one of the bodies I examined, really reminded me of the dream, I guess it was just really got me tonight."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She finally looked up from his chest and locked eyes with him for a few moments, **"You need to talk with him about this, now ****Shānnarō!"**

"Okay, Naruto-kun," she pulled him to sitting position and laid her head in his lap, and started to tell him of her nightmare, and she kept crying the whole time.

About half way through, he started to think, "_This dream, she was probably crying for Sasuke, something probably happens to him."_

"I waited for you two at the gate, but when you came back," her sobs increased again, "it was horrible,"

Naruto looked downtrodden, "did I…did I kill him?"

He was in no way prepared for what she said next, "No, Sasuke was fine, just unconscious, but you," her tears flowed like rivers, "you were burned, you were beaten, and you had this big hole in your gut from the chidori, but you still carried him back for ME." She wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed her face into his stomach, "You were lying there, dying, because of ME, because of my selfishness. I tried to get help, but no one seemed to listen, they were more worried about helping, _HIM_," there was an unreal amount of venom in the way she spoke about her former crush, "and I, I tried to carry you to the hospital, but I never seem to get closer, and then you," she let out a loud sob, "you tell me you want me to be happy and, and you just die, there in my arms, I try and try to save you, but it doesn't help."

Unsure of what to do, and very surprised by the cause of his friends tears, he just stroked the girls pink hair, "It's alright, Sakura-chan, it was just a dream, I'm still here."

Sakura's tears started to slow as she sat up and looked into her teammates eyes, and held his face in her hands, "Naruto," and she lightly kissed him on his forehead, "_I'm sorry, Hinata, I can't hold back anymore,"_ she looked back into his eyes, "I have something to tell you, and I want you to just let me finish before you say anything, okay," Naruto just nodded, and she looked out the window as she continued, "This, dream I had, it wasn't the first, I had other dreams after you left, first, I denied it, but each dream seemed to tell me the same thing, and I didn't want to listen to them, but I eventually couldn't deny it any longer, a single fact burned in my soul," she turned to the blonde, grabbing his hand and holding it in her own, "I love you, Naruto Uzumaki, more than I ever loved Sasuke, I would chose you over him in a heartbeat, even if it meant I had to kill him myself. If I had to, I would die for you."

Naruto just looked at her, stunned, for a few minutes, "Naruto-kun, are you alright? Hello, Earth to Naruto."

Naruto shook his head for a moment, and closed his eyes, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, I just wasn't ever prepared for any girl to say anything like that to me," he swallowed nervously, "and now it's happened twice in one night."

Sakura's heart fell, "So you've already talked to Hinata?"

"A little before I came in here, she told me she loved me, that she's loved me for a long time, I even told her about the furball, and she still felt for me."

"I see, that's great," she flashed him a sad smile, "She has cared about you for a long time, even back when I was such a bitch, you deserve her."

Naruto flashed Sakura a serious look, "Sakura-chan, first of all, I NEVER want to hear you say that again, you weren't a bitch, you were just… misguided." He turned towards the window, and looked at the moon, "I think I should tell you what I told Hinata when she told me how she felt, I need some time to think about this, especially now. I don't know how to handle something like this, I never had parents to tell me how to handle a date, and I'd sooner die than take Ero-sennins advice on it. On one hand I have you, a girl who has been important to me for a long time, and on the other I have Hinata, a girl who, it seems, loves me no matter what, even enough to put up with my stupidity when I didn't notice what everyone else seem to know. Both of you are strong kunoichi, both of you are kind and beautiful, and both of you should be out of my league."

Sakura, who by now was a bright red, giggled, "Naruto-kun, I think you are underestimating yourself, any girl would be lucky to have you, and any girl who thinks otherwise is an idiot. But, I do understand that you need some time, we can probably talk about this when we get back to the village, I'll even treat you to some ramen at Ichiraku's, Hinata too, then maybe we can work this out." Sakura crawled back under her covers, "You should get back to the couch and get some sleep."

Naruto made his way to the door, "Are you gonna be okay, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah I think I'll be fine, now that I have that off my chest, sweet dreams, Naruto-kun."

Naruto closed the door and laid back on the couch, starting to drift off, he thought, _"What, no smart-ass comments, aniki?"_

**"Just sleep, kit, I'm getting a bad feeling that something is going to happen,"** and the last thing Naruto heard before sleep claimed him was, **"And we both know you have to protect your new mates."**

**A.N. DAMN this one was long, but I'm not too happy with the beginning, please give me your thoughts on this.**


	4. Chapter 4: Dreams and Nightmares

**Chapter 4- Dreams and Nightmares**

_Naruto, the Rokudaime Hokage, stood upon the Hokage's monument overlooking his village. It was a great day, the sun shining with not a cloud in the sky, birds singing, and a peaceful hustle over the village. Everything seemed right with the world, Naruto was content with everything, but especially with a certain two something's that where rushing towards him._

_"TOU-SAN," the louder of the two voices called out, echoed by the second, but not nearly as loudly._

_Naruto turned and smiled, "There's my girls, what's got you so worked up Karin?"_

_The louder girl just smiled a smile just like her fathers. Karin and Yuzu were both cute girls. Karin, with light pink hair and bright green eyes, was a stark contrast to Yuzu and her long, dark locks and very pale blue eyes. For a stranger, it would be hard to tell they were sisters, aside from the fact that they both had the same whisker marks, both had two on each cheek, and they were both a little short for their age, although Naruto had no doubt they would shoot up like he did in a few years._

_"Tou-san, Tou-san, we did it, we learned the Rasengan!" Karin yelled, jumping up and down like a madwoman._

_Naruto was dumbfounded, "ARE YOU SERIOUS! YOU HAVE TO SHOW ME!" Naruto couldn't believe it, he had given them the lessons on how to use it, and, while mildly surprised that either one had the chakra needed to burst the rubber ball, he didn't think they would get it down alone in a few weeks when it took him months to learn to do it without a shadow clone._

_Yuzu quietly held out her hand, and Naruto expected the small, glowing orb to spin into existence, instead, Karin placed her hands next to Yuzu's and began to move them in a seemingly erratic pattern. After a few seconds, a sphere appeared in Yuzu's hand and began to spin faster and faster, eventually Karin stopped with one hand held palm down over Yuzu's, and between them, a perfect Rasengan, which the two of them promptly slammed into a nearby tree, disintegrating a large chunk of it._

_Naruto was dumbstruck when Yuzu finally spoke quietly, "Gomen, father, but it seems we can only use it together at the moment."_

_Naruto shook his head, and swept his daughters up in a big hug, "ARE YOU KIDDING, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU TWO!" he set them back down and ruffled their hair, "besides, let me tell you something, when I first learned that, I needed a clone to finally make one, and at that time I was three years older than you are now. It was months before I could make one on my own."_

_"Really?" the girls were surprised, not only that their father, the Hokage, had as much trouble with this jutsu as they did, but that he had come up with the same basic solution that they had._

_"Yeah, besides, this is a good thing; it means you're well on your way to mastering it, which is way ahead of anyone your age. It also means you two are learning to work together very well, and teamwork is a must for any shinobi or kunoichi. And finally, you two won't finish the academy for a couple of years still, so you don't have to use it in battle for a while. And besides that," he looked to Karin and smirked, "if you need Yuzu to use it, she will keep you from blasting some random kid who insults you through the wall."_

_Yuzu giggled a little, while Karin growled a bit and crossed her arms, "Tou-san, that guy deserved a beating, besides it's just sad when a chunin can get knocked out by a little girl."_

_"Onee-chan is right, father, that man had no right to poke fun at our," she thought for a moment, "family situation."_

_Naruto sighed, he knew having two wives was bound to cause some troubles at one point, but they wouldn't have it any other way, they were a happy family, if somewhat strange. "Well, since you are the Hokage's daughter, I just wish you would think a bit more before you act."_

_A voice came from behind him, "Considering what you were like at their age, you really aren't the type of person to tell them that, Naru-kun, right Hina-chan."_

_Naruto turned to see the mothers of his children walking towards them as the girls ran towards them._

_"I'm afraid I agree, Sakura-chan," Hinata said with a smile._

_"Kaa-san, okaa-san, what do you mean?" Yuzu said looking up._

_Sakura giggled, "Well, like the time he painted the faces on this mountain, and ended up having to wash them off by hand."_

_Naruto crossed his arms and turned his head as his daughters broke out laughing, "Hey, I thought that out before I did that, Sakura-chan, that's why I was able to escape even though it was broad daylight, that's skill."_

_"And that's why you're the best, Naru-kun," Hinata said before looking at her daughter, "Who feels like ramen for lunch?"_

_Almost on cue, both girls, as well as their father, started jumping like crazy screaming, "I DO, I DO!"_

_Both women sweat dropped, _'some things will never change'_ they thought as they picked up their daughters. Naruto went to follow, but after a few steps, his vision began to blur…_

_**Hotel Room**_

Naruto opened his eyes, and was greeted with the sight of a dark ceiling, _Damn it, why did I have to wake up, I wish my life could have been that good._

**Why can't it, kit? Just lay claim to them before you get back to the village, make them both yours.**

Naruto turned a deep red, _Ero-aniki, that kind of thing might be normal for foxes, but humans are only supposed to have one wife._

**Who says?**

Naruto just drew a blank for a moment, _That's just how it is, I don't think it's even legal._

**Who cares,** the fox scoffs, **after the crap you've been through, you should get them both, and maybe a third,** the fox added with a chuckle.

The blonde was getting upset, as well as embarrassed, _First off, Hinata and Sakura definitely wouldn't go for it, let alone some third girl, if there is even another girl who would like me, and it would probably be uncomfortable and unfair to all of them. And besides that, their families would kill me, or disown them for being with me, and I don't want them to lose their families on my account._

**But I don't think they'd care if they were with you, and besides, I doubt you would even be able to choose, since you're so worried about hurting them, so just get them both.**

_Just drop it for now, I'll focus on the mission, let's handle this one thing at a time,_ Naruto thought as he went to the window, it was still dark out, not even a hint of dawn's red light on the horizon. _We still need to send that symbol to obaa-chan to check it out, but it's too early for the messenger service to be open,_ Naruto thought for a few minutes, then smacked himself in the head, _Of course, why didn't I think of that last night?_

Naruto scribbled down a quick note, put it on the table, and left through the window.

_**An Hour Later**_

Hinata woke in the late morning with the sun shining over her, giving her body a pleasant warm feeling. Despite the fact it wasn't more than a few hours, it had seemed like the best night's sleep she'd had in years, and it had been filled with dreams of her and Naruto, some were nice images of the two of them with little blonde byakugan-users running around them, and some dreams were of the two of them MAKING the little blonde byakugan-users. _Someday, I'll make THOSE dreams come true,_ she thought with a determined blush.

Hinata got dressed and went to the next room, and found Sakura working on a late breakfast with a faraway look on her face. She hadn't even noticed the Hyuga until she spoke, "Good morning, Sakura, where's Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, good morning Hinata, he left a note," she said motioning towards a piece of paper on the table, which Hinata grabbed.

Dear Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan,

I've gone out to do a quick sweep for any suspicious people, and I thought I'd send the paper Hinata-chan found to Tsunade-obaa-chan with one of my toad summons (sorry I didn't think of that yesterday) I'll be back in a couple of hours for lunch

Naruto

Hinata blushed a bit at the suffix her love had used, but then turned her attention to her fellow kunoichi, who seemed to space out again, "Is something wrong, Sakura?"

The medic turned to her friend with a smirk, "Wow, Hinata, not even one stutter yet this morning, did something happen last night?"

The heiress turned beet red and started to twiddle her thumbs, "W-w-well, last n-night… I-I mean… me and N-Naruto-k-kun…"

"Don't worry, Hinata, I know, you confessed to him." Sakura said, with a sad tone, as she turned away from her friend.

Hinata put her hand on the girls shoulder, "Sakura, I'm sorry, but…"

"No, Hinata, I'm sorry," Sakura said as her eyes a little teary, "I…I confessed last night too. I didn't know you had already, and there was this horrible dream I was having, and he came in and was worrying about me," and she told the pale eyed girl the whole story, about the dream, about the corpse the day before, Naruto thinking she had feelings for the Uchiha, and her confession, "I'm so sorry, Hinata, I didn't know you had told him, but I couldn't help myself."

"So I guess you get what you want," the Hyuga sounded angry and was getting loud, "I guess the two of you will be a happy couple when the mission is over, and leaving me alone until…until,"

"HINATA," Sakura yelled, trying to calm her friend down, "we aren't dating."

"He, he turned you down?"

"No, he said he needs time to think about it, he said he told you that too," Hinata nodded, "but I'm worried that I made things worse for him when I told him."

"What d-do you mean? " Hinata asked, her anger dying down a little.

"Well, he told you about his…fur ball friend, as he puts it. Because of that, and the fact Naruto is an orphan, I don't think he knows much about dating or anything like that. He's probably too worried about hurting one by choosing now that we've both confessed to him. He might even think the one he doesn't choose will hate him,"

"But I-I could never hate N-Naruto-kun, no matter what," Hinata interrupted, then she smirked a little, "but I think I might resent you quite a bit."

Sakura chuckled a bit, "I could understand that, deep down I would probably flat out hate you if you won him over," Sakura's eyes shot open in realization and she sighed, "and that's another problem, I guess. Even if we convince him we won't hate him, he might start to worry about the friendship between the two of us."

Hinata nodded, and was about to say more when the girls heard a clicking in the door, and in walked the object of their affections.

"Hey, girls what's for lunch?" then he noticed their serious looks, "Is something wrong."

Sakura smiled, "No, we're Fine Naruto-kun, we were just talking about something we will need to do when we get back."

"So, did you f-find anything, N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's look turned a bit more serious, "Unfortunately, no. I tried asking some of the people who have lived here a while if they had seen anyone out of the ordinary, but no one could think of anything. Before that, though, I gave that paper to my friend Kosuke, and he's pretty fast so I will have to go wait for him at the town limits."

"Why?"

"Well, I didn't think it was a good idea to call one of the larger toads because it might spook the villagers…"

Sakura sighed, "No, I think she means why you have to meet him outside of the village?"

"Oh, I didn't think it would be a good idea to have a large talking toad going around the town looking for me, and although Kosuke is faster than most humans, but he's not a real good fighter yet, and I wouldn't the bad guys to catch him, or for him to scare a villager. Now, I think I'm gonna grab some of the instant ramen I brought, do either of you want some?"

Hinata and Sakura, whose late breakfast had burned while she talked with Hinata, happily helped themselves to some of the blondes' favorite food. They sat quietly around the table eating their ramen in peace.

**Isn't this a nice family moment, a man and his wives**, Naruto heard from the back of his head.

_Not funny aniki, I thought I told you to drop it._

**I did, and now I'm picking it back up.**

_Look, I told you, it doesn't work like that for humans._

**Just go for it, you know you want to, maybe that's what that dream was meant to tell you. Claim them, make them yours.**

_JUST SHUT UP!_

"N-Naruto-kun, is s-something wrong?"

Naruto looked up to see both girls staring at him with worried looks, "Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night, I had a…strange dream." He said, turning a light red as he finished, which both girls noticed.

"Oh really, Naruto-kun, what kind of 'strange dream'" Sakura asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it," he said, constantly turning redder.

"Ooooh, I'll bet it was something perverted, wasn't it?" Naruto shook rapidly his head.

"Sakura, p-please stop teasing him," Hinata said before she turned to the young man, "Naruto-kun, you c-can tell us."

"No I can't, you'll think its stupid, and Sakura-chan will probably whack me in the head."

Sakura's smirk was replaced with a sad smile, "Naruto-kun, I won't hit you, so don't worry, you can tell us."

"Well, I was Hokage, and it was a nice day, and these two little girls came up to me, and they were my daughters. They were so happy because they learned to work together to use the Rasengan like I used to with my shadow clones."

Hinata was very interested, "What did they look like?"

"Well they both had whisker birthmarks like mine," he turned to Hinata, "Yuzu was a quiet girl with dark hair and very pale eyes, that had a blue tint," then he turned to Sakura, "and Karin was a little ball of energy with really bright pink hair and bright green eyes. They were half sisters," Naruto scratched the back of his head, "see, that's what was weird about the dream, I had two wives, the two of you."

Both girls blushed and thought the same thing; _Me, married to Naruto-kun!? And we had a daughter, which means we would have…_

"Oh look at the time, I should probably go see if Kosuke has gotten back yet," Naruto said as he bolted out of the window.

_**Town Limits**_

Naruto was panicking, _why did I have to tell them, why didn't I just lie?_

**Stop complaining, kit, it's probably not as bad as you think. Besides, deception isn't really your style, and they would have known you were lying anyways.**

The blonde sighed, _but now they probably think I'm some weird pervert now, _Naruto's thoughts were interrupted.

"Oi, Naruto," a knee high, light colored toad called at him. Kosuke was a relatively young toad who always wore a pair of goggles like the one Naruto had as a child. Naruto had met Kosuke shortly before he returned to the village, when he had put too little chakra into a summoning when he was trying to contact Gamakichi. The two got along well, and Naruto used him when he needed a small toad with some speed. The toad held out a small scroll, "Tsunade told me to give you this." Naruto grabbed the scroll just as his friend disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto opened the scroll and read.

Naruto

The symbol you sent me seems to be from a lesser known religion from the region of the former Yugakure, and it seemed familiar to you because it was practiced by one of the defeated Akatsuki members. It is unclear whether this is connected to Akatsuki, but it seems unlikely. However, to be safe, I have sent Team 10 as backup, they should arrive shortly after this letter. Be careful, this could become dangerous, keep an eye on Hinata and Sakura.

Take care,

Tsunade

P.S. The next time you sent me an official letter addressed to "Obaa-chan" I will punch you so hard, not even the Kyuubi will keep you out of a week's stay at the hospital, during which I will make sure you are brought up to date on all of your vaccination shots.

Naruto shivered from the thought of Tsunade coming at him those needles. _I'd better get this to Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan,_ he thought before he heard a growl in the back of his head.

**Better get going, and fast, kit, I've got a bad feeling in my whiskers.**

_**Hotel Room, Just After Naruto Left**_

Hinata and Sakura sat in silence for a few minutes after Naruto had left, before Hinata spoke up, "S-so what d-d-does this mean?"

"I honestly don't know, maybe he was caught off guard by both of us confessing, maybe he can't decide between us, or," Sakura sighed, "maybe Jiraya taught him more than some jutsu."

"No, I don't believe Naruto-kun would become like that."

"We'll have a talk with Naruto when he gets back, But we have to make sure he knows we're not mad, and…and," Sakura started to feel strange, her eyelids felt heavy, as did her limbs.

Hinata wasn't much better off, she was barely able to keep her head up long enough to see Sakura fall to the ground before her vision started to fade, and she heard a door open.

"See, I told you using the air vents would work." One voice said.

"Look again, there's only two here, where's the guy?" A second, deeper voice asked.

"Yeah, baka, are you trying to piss of Jashin-sama?" a third, feminine voice yelled. Hinata was barely able to crack her eyes to see three figures in blood red robes, a larger one standing near the door, while two slimmer ones were near the table she was at.

"Oh just shut it, bitch, I'll get the punk."

Hinata forced herself to stand, leaning on the table, "You…will stay…away from…Naruto-kun." It was a struggle to speak, and she slowly fell to the ground.

"Oh, would you look at that, baka, one of them is still able to stand, I guess that's another job you failed," mocked the robed one nearer to Sakura.

"Shut your trap, before I shut it for you," the other person said before turning to Hinata, "and as for your, Naruto was it? Don't worry; we'll have him next to you when you're sacrificed to Jashin-sama."

"Yeah, we'll even let you live long enough to see the little punk die," suddenly there was a sickening crack and a piercing scream. Hinata could see Sakura's hand squeezing the woman's lower leg, and could guess from the crack and the scream; she had crushed the bone with the last of her strength. "YOU BITCH! YOU WHORE! YOU LITTLE, PINK HAIRED SLUT!"

The male only laughed, "I guess I didn't pump enough poison in here, hey, boss," he turned to the large figure by the door, "What should we do about this?"

Hinata finally faded out of consciousness, "I'll carry these three back, I guess, while you wait for the blonde shinobi."

_**Fifteen Minutes Later**_

"Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, I got a reply from Obaa-chan." Naruto called as he opened the door and was blasted with a face full of dust, and he reacted as naturally as he could, and launched a punch towards the source, and connected with something.

"Ow, you bastard," a dark haired young man, about nineteen, in red robes was in front of him, his hood knocked off by punch, he pulled a long, curved blade from under his robes, "maybe I'll take a couple of chunks out of you before I take you out of here."

"Oh yeah, let's see you try," Naruto said, launching another punch at the opponent, but missed completely.

"Oh, something wrong, gaki," the robed man laughed, "you really aren't that smart, I hit you with a poison dust when you hit the door, and soon you won't even be able to move. Now then," he said as he raised the blade, "I think I'll pay you back for that punch."

**A.N.- Whoo, finally a new chapter, and a cliffhanger too. Sorry it took longer than the others, but I have been busy with classes and lectures.**

**On a separate note, I was wondering if you guys could help me out with something, there was this fanfic I saw a while back, and haven't been able to find again since. It was a Naruto fanfic that starts with Naruto trying to get some training, only to find a note from Kakashi saying something along the lines that he won't train Naruto. Broken hearted, Naruto is found by the third hokage, who offers to train Naruto at the Sarutobi clan home, he eventually moves into the clan home with the hokage, Konohamaru, Asuma and his wife (an OC). Naruto and Kurenai fall in love. **

**If anyone can help me find that fic again, I would greatly appreciate it.**


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